Are New Jersey’s new solar energy credits working?

New Jersey’s new system of Renewable Energy Credits is designed to spur the installation of alternative-energy solar systems on business properties and homes. It has been met with both optimism and skepticism among installers of those systems. A new solar project in North Jersey, announced today, indicates it may be working
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As readers of this blog know from past posts, including Solar energy heats up in New Jersey again and A big NJ solar project via a PA utility, New Jersey has been one of the nation’s leaders in the installation of solar-panel, alternative energy systems for businesses and homes.

It’s a success story you wouldn’t expect in a northeast state not known for year-long sunshine.

How did it happen? Credit forward-thinking leadership at the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU), the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and within the governor’s office which resulted in a program of generous state grants. Those grants gave business and home owners a substantial break when installing the costly solar systems.

But the program proved to be far more successful than anticipated. So many applicants took advantage of the grants that the program quickly became unsustainable (especially in light of the state’s overall dire financial condition). So the BPU restructured the program, creating a market-trading financing structure called Renewable Energy Credits (REC).

The new system has been met with both optimism and skepticism by those in the solar-installation business, and it’s still too early to judge how it will all work out.

At least one apparent success story, however, was announced today in a press release from Clear Sites Solar. The firm says it is installing a 122 kw solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the new headquarters of McGowan Builders, Inc in East Rutherford, NJ, designed to offset most of the building’s current energy usage charges.

McGowan was able to do the deal, according to Clear Sites, because of the state RECs which “created an outstanding investment opportunity.”

When combined with deprecation, the federal tax credit and the finance package McGowan chose, the deal will produce a positive cash flow for McGowan within the first year, and drive the effective cost of the system down significantly, according to Clear Sites.

So, at least in this case, RECs appear to be off to a good start.

More good news for the future of solar installations in New Jersey was the July 16 announcement by Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) that it plans to extend to residential customers participation in the company’s $105 million loan program for solar installations.

Under the new program, residential electric customers in single family homes can qualify for loans of 40 to 60 percent of the total cost of a solar installation project, depending upon the efficiency of the solar system. The loans are limited to systems of up to 6 megawatts and will be available on a first come, first served basis over the next two years.

More information on the PSE&G loan program is available at: www.pseg.com/solarloan or by calling 973 430-8460.

Have you been considering a solar installation at your business or home? Click on the “comment” line below and tell us about your experience. Opinions on the state REC program or solar energy in general also are welcome.

Are New Jersey’s new solar energy credits working? Read More »

Top environmental & political news – July 21-25

Every day, we select a few of the top environmental and political stories appearing in our newsletter, EnviroPolitics, and post them to our website for free public use.

Click the links below to view stories for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York–and beyond– that appeared during the past week.

July 25 2008
July 24 2008

To receive free daily alerts when our Environmental & Political News page is updated, send a blank email to: eptopdailynews@aweber.com
Try EnviroPolitics, the daily environmental newsletter, Free for an entire month!

Top environmental & political news – July 21-25 Read More »

More on the Lackawanna Cutoff proposal


If you were interested in our recent post
Reviving the Lackawanna Cutoff (Updated 7/16), you’ll want to check out:

* Last Sunday’s column by (Morristown, NJ) Daily Record editorial page editor Fred Snowflak, and

* A letter-to-the-editor in response to the column from Jefferson Township resident Norman H. Ressler.

The Penn Jersey Rail Coalition is urging letters in support of the revised railway to be sent to the New Jersey Transit. The deadline for such public comment is July 30.

More on the Lackawanna Cutoff proposal Read More »

NYC cooking oil fueling vehicles and buildings

Several years ago Brent Baker heard that a group of women who called themselves the “Veggie Babes” had driven cross country in a van powered by used cooking oil. That got Baker thinking and the product of that cogitation is today’s Tri-State Biodiesel.

The Manhattan-based company provides city restaurants with free collection of used cooking oil and trap grease. It has that material processed and then offers it for sale as biodiesel that can be burned in most diesel-powered vehicles without modification and as a boiler fuel to heat office buildings and apartments.

The company offers what sounds like a pretty attractive consumer package–free removal of a material that a restaurant owner otherwise would have to pay a waste hauler to remove and the sale of a environmental friendly fuel at a cost generally less than you’d pay for standard diesel at the pump or from your heating oil supplier.

But no business is without its challenges. Baker details some of them, including the high-cost of operating in America’s largest city, in an interesting interview appearing in the Brooklyn-based blog, Gowanus Lounge.

And, despite its ‘green’ credentials, his company has been hurt by recent press accounts linking the biofuel industry to a multitude of evils, including, believe it or not, world hunger.

Baker says these media reports stem from a “corporate smear campaign conducted by a Washington DC public relations firm.” He says that the campaign employs “fuzzy math and anonymous studies to slow the US transition to biofuels, in much the same way that similar campaigns slowed action on global warming for several years. “

To do his part to set the record straight, Baker has set up a Myths and Facts About Biodiesel page on his website.

Baker’s is not the only biofuel venture in the news. Newark Liberty International Airport has announced it has signed an agreement with Gaz Realty which will provide biodiesel at a soon-to-be-built Super Station that also will include a convenience story, car wash, light auto repair and towing service.

MORE:
Setting the Record Straight When It Comes to Biofuels – Queens Ledger 5/22/08
The Changing Face of Biodiesel Production – Biodiesel Magazine

NYC cooking oil fueling vehicles and buildings Read More »

Big environmental week in Pennsylvania

It’s been was a big week for environmental headlines in the Keystone State with the resignation of Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty, the enactment of a $650 million energy bill and the additional signings of climate-change and biofuels legislation.

(DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty with solar panels)

On Thursday, the Philadelphia Inquire broke the story of McGinty’s resignation (effective July 18) with this lead:

“Kathleen McGinty, who in her five years as secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection led Gov. Rendell’s ambitious agenda to enhance the environment, advance energy conservation initiatives and attract green businesses, is stepping down.”

The Governor’s Office confirmed the story on Friday with a news release praising McGinty for her accomplishments in the post:

“Katie’s tenure as DEP secretary has been marked by many achievements that will have a lasting benefit for this commonwealth,” said Governor Rendell. “From her first day in office, she brought a unique perspective to the way we view environmental challenges: that those challenges are economic opportunities in disguise. Operating under that philosophy, Pennsylvania has become a center of progress and innovation. “

The governor later announced that Joseph R. Powers, who has served as executive deputy secretary since 2003, would fill in for McGinty until a permanent replacement is announced.

The statewide activist organization, PennFuture, was quick to salute McGinty in a statement calling her an environmental ‘trailblazer.’

“Katie hit Pennsylvania like a whirlwind, working with government, the private sector, public interest organizations and everyone in between to promote and improve Pennsylvania’s environment and economy,” said Penn Future’s president and CEO John Hanger. “Thanks to her, Pennsylvania now has a solid plan to combat
warming. She helped convince global green energy companies Gamesa, Iberdrola and Conergy to locate here in Pennsylvania, bringing millions in investments and thousands of great paying green jobs. Recognizing the need for strong regulation to protect the health of Pennsylvania’s babies, McGinty championed the rule that will result in a 90 percent reduction of toxic mercury pollution from our state’s coal-fired power plants. She also led the fight for a new rule to guarantee that Commonwealth residents would have access to the very cleanest new cars available anywhere. And just this legislative session, she fought and won the $650 million clean energy fund, and legislation to support homegrown cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel “

PennFuture posted an interesting “Exit Interview” video with McGinty on its website.

The video takes a little time to download and it sounds like the interview was taped inside a large steel drum. Those quibbles aside, we recommend it since it gives McGinty an opportunity to expand on her accomplishments and some of the environmental challenges left for her successor (and the Rendell Administration) to grapple with.

McGinty’s can-do approach, which seeks to find opportunities for economic development within solutions to traditional environmental problems, is credited by many as a big factor in helping to turn the Commonwealth–despite its significant problems with abandoned coal mines leaching toxic water, landscapes scarred by mountains of coal waste, and an energy industry wedded to coal and oil–into a national leader in attracting, promoting and subsidizing new companies in the alternative-energy fields of wind, solar and biofuels.

Turning to a few of the week’s other big stories…

Rendell’s signature of Special Session HB 1 will make some $100 million available to households and small businesses to offset the cost of installing solar energy systems. The new law also provides $92.5 million in loans, grants, reimbursements and rebates to support energy conservation and weatherization projects and $165 million for loans and grants to spur the development of alternative and renewable energy projects (other than solar) among businesses and local governments.

The global-warming legislation signed this past week will require Pennsylvania to conduct an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and set up a registry for business and industry where they can track their emissions and get credit for pollution reductions.

(Mark Morey photo)

The governor also signed two bills which lend a hand to those companies working to develop homegrown biofuels.

Special Session SB 22 directs an investment of $5.3 million to in-state biodiesel producers annually through June 30, 2011. These companies will be able to take advantage of a 75 cents-per-gallon subsidy that will be capped at $1.9 million per year per producer.
HB 1202 aims to reduce the state’s depedence on foreign fuels by establishing new requirements that every gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel contain a percentage of ethanol and biodiesel.
Legislation gladdens biodiesel producers – The Sentinel
Editorial: Pennsylvania expands beyond corn-based fuel – Daily Review

For more on the energy-funding law, see:
Rendell Signs Bill Establishing $650 Million Energy Fund (Gant Daily)
Solar Energy Big Winner in Pennsylvania Energy Funding Bill (Sierra Club)
Gov. Rendell signs bill establishing $650 Energy Fund (PADEP)

For more on the climate-change legislation, see:
Pennsylvania Assembly Passes First Global Warming Law (ENS)
Pa Climate Change Act Passes (Sierra Club)

Big environmental week in Pennsylvania Read More »

Reviving the Lackawanna Cutoff (Updated 7/16)

Readers of our daily newsletter, EnviroPolitics, have been following news stories on efforts to restore passenger service between Hoboken, NJ and Scranton, PA via the old Lackawanna Cutoff, the last railroad line to be built in New Jersey.

The restoration proposal, designed in part to reduce the ever growing vehicle traffic along Route 80 between the Pennsylvania Poconos and New York City (and New Jersey municipalities in between), is hailed by some as visionary regional transportation planning and trashed by others as an environmental affront.

You’ll find links below to recent stories on the proposal and a post from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s web page which mounts environmental arguments against it.

We welcome you views, too. Just click on the “opinion” link at the bottom of this post and fire away.

Putting aside the present-day controversy, however, we found the history of the Lackawanna Cutoff to be fascinating, not only for the size and scope of the project and the impressive marshaling of men and equipment needed to build it, but also for the audacity of its design and excellence of its execution.

It’s the kind of story that must make today’s planners and engineers long for the bold spirit of America’s industrial age.

We recommend that you check out:
The Lackawanna Cut-Off – Wikopedia
Touring the Lackawanna Cut-Off – NJ Skylands Visitor Guide

Returning to the present-day controversy:

N. J. residents view commuter rail plan – July 12 Pocono Record
Train delay for Warren – July 9 Express-Times

Commuter rail plans presented in Stroudsburg – July 3 Pocono Record
Train service still a few years down the line – June 19 Express-Times
Lackawanna Cutoff: Why Now and Why There? – Tri-State Transportation Campaign
Lackawanna Cutoff – New Jersey Voices (Star-Ledger)
Lackawanna Cutoff – New Jersey Transit project summary

Reviving the Lackawanna Cutoff (Updated 7/16) Read More »